Southwest Airlines Defends Safety Record; FAA Under Fire

Southwest’s Herb Kelleher: “We Screwed Up”

While declaring Southwest has “the best airline passenger safety record in the world,” Southwest Chairman Herb Kelleher admitted employees “screwed up” by not immediately performing mandatory inspections into small cracks in the fuselage.

Testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Kelleher stressed the lapse involved a “tiny part” of the plane and that Southwest discovered the mistake itself.

“We reported it to the FAA. We told them what was going on,” Kelleher said.”The FAA said we could continue to fly the plane while we inspected that small portion. And we did, and we should not have, and we have learned our lesson.”

Strong Words from Committee Chair

As today’s hearing kicked off, Chairman James Oberstar declared the FAA “needs to clean house from top to bottom.” 

Much of the focus was on safety questions at Dallas-based Southwest, but the hearing also delved into the FAA’s oversight of all airlines.

After hearing from several FAA whistleblowers, Oberstar unleashed: “The testimony we have heard substantiates that clearly this is not an isolated aberration, attributed to a rogue individual but rather a systematic breakdown.”

“It is misfeasance, malfeasance, bordering on corruption,” Oberstar said. “If this were a grand jury proceeding, I think it would result in an indictment.”

FAA Associate Administrator Promises Reforms

A top FAA administrator said he was outraged and vowed to set up a new system for inspectors to voice their concerns within the agency.

“My disappointement and regret over the FAA’s failure to carry out its duties and responsibilities in this instance is beyond my ability to express and I do not minimize its importance,” testified Nicholas Sabatini, the FAA’s Associate Administrator for Safety.

Committee Chairman Oberstar seemed to be skeptical, asking what good “another hotline” will do.

Sabatini said it is a change in culture that he is implementing. He and several others from the FAA were clearly on the hotseat and faced hostile questions from members of the committee.

Whistleblower Testimony 

The first witness to testify was Bobby Boutris, an FAA safety inspector based in Dallas.

He said Southwest Airlines of continuing to fly 47 planes after they should have been grounded for mandatory safety inspections.

“I am very concerned because these safety issues affect the lives of the flying public,” Boutris  said, “and instead of being advocates for safety some people are still trying to muddy the water by downplaying this serious safety issue.”

He also said there has been a “cozy” relationship between the airline and some top FAA managers.

When he discovered violations, Boutris said his manager forced him to send “letters of concern” to Southwest instead of “letters of investigation,” which don’t carry fines and are not taken as seriously.

Revolving Door

Boutris also blasted Southwest’s hiring of a former FAA inspector, Paul Comeau, as the airline’s Manager of Regulatory Compliance.

“I believe SWA knowingly hired Mr. Comeau for his FAA connections with inspectors in our office, and to their advantage placed him in the position that directly interfaces with our office on a daily basis…”

Southwest has announced it suspended three employees, but won’t say whether Mr. Comeau is one of them.

Southwest Interference Alleged

“In the performance of my duties,” Boutris said, “I have been asked by SWA management to make a violation go away. In addition, I have been threatened by SWA management that they could have me removed…”

He did not elaborate on the alleged violation.

Second Whistleblower Chokes Up

A second FAA inspector, Douglas Peters, choked up when he testified about an FAA manager who he claims urged him to keep his complaints about co-workers quiet. “(The manager) picked up a picture of my son… and said, ‘This is what’s important, family… You have a good job here and… I’d hate to see you jeopardize (your career) trying to take down a couple of losers.'”

“I am not a disgruntled employee nor do I wish to embarrass the FAA or ruin its reputation,” Peteres said. “I merely wish to truthfully describe the events that brought me here today.”

Peters also backed up Boutris’ testimony regarding lax enforcement of important safety procedures at Southwest Airlines.

“As for Southwest Airlines as a whole, it is my opinion that your company was led down the wrong path by a handful of individuals, both within your ranks and ours.”

Surprise Testimony

In surprise testimony,  former FAA office manager Michael Mills backed up Boutris and Peters and said it cost him his job.

“I encountered unhealthy relationships between the FAA and Southwest Airlines,” he said in his prepared remarks. “It is a story of arrogance, egotism, unbridled ambition, turf protection, mistrust, (and) missed opportunities…”

Mills said he was “abruptly removed” from his position as manager of the Southwest Airlines Certificate Management Office, just days after he had reported to his superiors that Southwest “had overflown critical safety inspections” and that one of his subordinates, the principal maintenance inspector, had “apparently suppressed this information.”

Southwest: Safety is Top Priority

In advance of the hearing, the airline released prepared testimony. The following is from a SWA press release this morning:

“Safety is the top priority for both of us.  And it is Southwest Airlines’ top priority. On this, you have our personal commitment on behalf of 34,000 Southwest Employees.  The need to be safe is part of our history, our culture and our Company DNA…. Being safe is the right thing to do, and it is the law.”

The statement goes on: “It is also important to dispel the misimpression that we did not inspect our airplanes for skin cracks. Nothing could be further from the truth.  On a regularly scheduled basis, we perform an overlapping, repetitive, and comprehensive series of inspections of our 737s to detect skin cracks, literally inspecting every inch of the aircraft.”

Even Hillary Clinton Weighs In

As the House committee continued its work, all this is getting attention on the presidential campaign trail. Hillary Clinton specifically mentioned Southwest Airlines and the FAA, saying “they need to act and act now to end these cozy relationships.” She also vowed to stop the “revolving door” so that FAA inspectors can not go to work immediately for the airline they were regulating the day before.